In the Travers, greatness is at stake

Winners of storied race provide a glimpse of thoroughbred history

Tim Wilki, Times Union

By Tim Wilkin

Updated 2:59 pm, Friday, July 26, 2013

Whirlaway is draped with the floral tribute in the winner's circle at Belmont Park, N.Y., on June 7, 194, after winning the Belmont Stakes race of the Triple Crown with jockey Eddie Arcaro. Trainer Ben Jones holds the bridle. (AP Photo)

Whirlaway is draped with the floral tribute in the winner's circle...

Trainer Leroy Jolley works with one of his charges at the Stakes Barn Sept. 2, 2009, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Trainer Leroy Jolley works with one of his charges at the Stakes...

Two canoes painted in the colors of the dead heat winner's of the Travers Stakes were launched in to the infield lake of the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Aug. 29, 2012. The blue canoe represents the colors of Alpha, who is owned Sheik Mohammed Al Maktoum of Dubai. The multi-colored canoe is painted in the colors of Golden Ticket, owned by Magic City Thoroughbred Investments. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

Two canoes painted in the colors of the dead heat winner's of the...

Racing patrons run to stake claim to a picnic table as the gates open at 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning Aug. 25, 2012, on Travers Day at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Aug. 25, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

So did Whirlaway, the only Triple Crown winner to ever find the winner's circle in the Midsummer Derby.

If you look up and down the list of winners of Saratoga's great race, you find yourself galloping through the pages of thoroughbred history.

Native Dancer, Sword Dancer, Damascus, Arts and Letters. Alydar, Easy Goer and Holy Bull are just a few of the magical thoroughbred names that commanded respect on their day in the late summer sun at Saratoga.

"The Travers is a great race, run at a great track and has so much tradition," said Hall of Fame trainer Leroy Jolley, who won the race twice, with Honest Pleasure in 1976 and General Assembly in 1979.

General Assembly ran the 1 1/4 miles in a time of 2:00. That is still the fastest time any horse ever ran the Travers in and is still the track record. The colt won the race by 15 lengths, the second-largest margin of victory in the history of the race. Only Damascus, who won it by 22 lengths in 1967, had an easier time.

The race was run on Aug. 18, 1979, on a sloppy track on a miserable day. For Jolley, it might have been one of the nicest days ever.

"But it was a horrible weather day," Jolley said by cellphone. "It rained all night and it just kept on raining (race day). It would just keep coming down in heavy downpours."

Jolley never considered scratching the General, who was a son of the great Secretariat. General Assembly had done OK on off-tracks before, but he had always thrived at the Spa. He won the first three times he ran there, and Jolley was confident he would run well in the Travers, no matter the condition of the track.

The 5-2 favorite in the field of seven was the filly Davona Dale. General Assembly went off at 3-1 and was never seriously challenged. When he sloshed across the finish line in the record time, he wiped out the old mark of 2:01 1/5, which was set three years earlier by Honest Pleasure, also trained by Jolley.

"(General Assembly) loved that race track," Jolley said. "Maybe some of the other horses didn't like the (sloppy) track that day but that is something you don't know. All I know is that he liked it and he was a very good horse."

Jolley was not so fortunate in 1962 when he was part of what may have been the best Travers ever run. Two horses, one named Jaipur, the other Ridan, engaged each other from the moment the gates opened.

They ran together all the way, never separated by more than a head. At the end, Jaipur's nose got down in front of Ridan.

"When they were going down the backside, I thought one of them was going to have to get worn out," Jolley said. "Neither of them gave it up all the way to the wire. But, to tell you the truth, I thought Jaipur got his head down first. Yes, to me, I thought my horse was beat. It was one of the greatest Travers ... it was one of the greatest races."

That's the sentiment you get from any trainer or jockey who wins the Travers Stakes. For some, it can be a career maker. For others, it can reinforce what a great career it has been.

Pat Day won the Travers four times, one of four jockeys to pull that off. He won aboard Play Fellow in 1983, Java Gold in 1987, Easy Goer in 1989 and Ten Most Wanted n 2003.

"All of them were extra special," Day said by cellphone. "I will be the first to tell you I was incredibly blessed ... to be part of a select group that won that race four times ... well, I just have a hard time putting that into words."